


Walk Another Way (WIP)

by writingradionoises



Category: Homestuck, No SBURB - Fandom
Genre: Alcoholic Rose, And you can thank Karkat for that, Dave's afraid of being alone, Everyone's really fucked up here, F/F, F/M, FTM Karkat, Karkat is depressed, Karkat's a victim of child abuse and sexual abuse, M/M, Nepeta has some bad addictions, Terezi has major trauma, This can be a triggering story to some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 07:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6795712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingradionoises/pseuds/writingradionoises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It really isn't easy for you. Everyone says your husband, Karkat, is dead. You're refusing to believe so. They say it's just a phase. You don't believe them either. Because of this, your older brother, Dirk, and his boyfriend, Jake, offer to take you up to Idaho, where Karkat was going in the first place. You offer to tell them a story. And this story, ends up like no other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walk Another Way (WIP)

Dave Strider. That's your name. You were married at one point, though you haven't seen him in a year. Your brother and his husband, Dirk and Jake, have offered ti take you up to Idaho to see him. So of course, you took the offer up. So here you sit with a backpack on your back, in your small apartment in Texas. It's when you see Dirk pull up in a dull orange car that you get up to go meet him. After getting into the car's back seat, Jake smiles brightly.

"Ello' ol' chap!"

"Sup bro," Dirk greets.

You nod your head in greeting as Dirk begins to drive away. You are determined to make it to Idaho on your husband, Karkat's, birthday. June 12th. It's June 6th today, so you have to hurry. He has to come back home with you if you visit him on his birthday.

He'd say "Good job, idiot, you remembered my birthday," and you'd laugh and kiss him.

"Alright, little bro, we'll stop for the night in Arizona, then get up early and get back on the road. In the mean time, why don't you tell us a story? I don't know, man, maybe something about your high school adventures in Texas while I was doing college in England with Jake?"

The green eyed male gets giddy when Dirk mentions a story.

"Golly, I don't think you've ever told me about your high school years, Davey. I, myself, never went to a public high school. I was home schooled up until College. So I'd like to know what it was like!"

You smile a little bit, "Alright, I'll tell you a story of mystery, romance, and well, humans in general. The story of my senior year in high school when I first moved here. The story of Karkat Strider-Vantas, The story of Terezi Pyrope. The story of Jade Harley, John Ebgert, and Aradia Megido."

You liked this story because it reminded you of your drawings. Beneath every pretty face, is a horrible story.

When Rose first dragged you out of Colorado and into Texas for school, you were devastated. You used to live in the country with Dirk and his ex-fiance, Roxy Lalonde. You loved Roxy like they were your mother. Even when things didn't work out between Roxy and Dirk, Roxy still treated you like you were their son through phone calls and letters. Not long after, Dirk had organized a plan. He was heading off to see his College classes in person. In which, the college he was going to was in England. Far from Colorado. He had rented you and Rose a small house in Texas. Rose was already 18 and you were turning 18 in a few days. Dirk said that while he was in England, you and Rose would have to live on your own.

"Besides, you and Rose should be moving out soon anyway. Can't depend on me forever," he said while helping your sister out with a job application.

To you it didn't matter whether you moved or not. The problem was that your future plans were ruined. You and Roxy has planned for you to move in with them in New York. You were so excited to see the person you now call "mom." On the plane ride Rose made you feelings jam with her and you ended up spilling all the disgusting feelings out to her.

She patted your shoulder and said, "David, it is okay. Maybe once you finish high school you can see Roxy. After all, after I finish my courses up I will be shipping myself off to Oregon for college and to meet my girlfriend, Kanaya Maryam."

Rose was very excited about seeing Kanaya. So your humored her excitement to drive away your broken hopes and dreams. It seemed sitting that when you arrived in Texas, you hated it.

Right at that moment, Jake turned around and faced you. "I've got a few questions for you now. If you hated Texas, then why do you stay? Also, where was Karkat during all of this?"

Your skin began to crawl at the mention of his name. You missed Kitten. That's why you're hoping to bring him back on his birthday.

"I stay because I don't know where else to go at this point. I'm still awaiting Roxy's response for me to come over. I didn't meet Karkat until I started school in Texas."

Jake nods understandingly and lets you continue your story. Moving into the house wasn't a hassle. It was, once again, small. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small living room, and a kitchen. Rose's room was across the hall from yours. The window in your room had a nice view of the sunset and the neighbor's house. The house next door belonged to a woman named Jade Harley and another elderly woman named Aradia Megido, confirmed Rose. Rose often called them Mrs. Harley and Ms. Megido. The unusual thing about Araida was that her eyes were pure white, though she could see just fine. You didn't like either of them. They were creepy. On the other side of your house was where the Pyrope family lived. The woman in charge of the family of two went by the official title of Neophyte Redglare Pyrope. She was a lawyer. Redglare informed you that she used to have a full family of four, two daughters, herself, and her husband. She said that her husband had died and you assumed that her other daughter was in college. You never actually asked. Her only daughter now was a blind girl by the name of Terezi Pyrope. She was your age and went to your school. So you became friends quickly. Being friends already made school easier for you. Terezi introduced you to her own friends. Their names were Nepeta Leijon, Vriska Sekert, Feferi Peixes, and Karkat Vantas.

Jake inturpted you with, "So that's how you and Karkat met! Through Terezi!"

You nod and smile, "While Terezi had some crazy thoughts flying around in her head, she was a good friend."

Dirk then joined in on the conversation, "Pyrope always creeped me out. You sure she wasn't like a psychopath? Or at least messed up in the head?"

"Bro, she had major trauma. Of course she was messed up."

"Wait, where did Terezi get trauma from?" Jake asked.

". . . You'll find out later."

You continued. All of you had the same English class. Karkat was in your art class, Feferi in your gym, and Vriska and Nepeta in your drama. You almost never saw Rose during the day since she had advance classes and the only elective she took was orchestra. Though in that class, Karkat, Terezi, you, and Vriska had shared it with Rose. Karkat played viola, Terezi played piano, Rose played violin, you played cello, and Vriska played bass. You and Vriska often fight over which is better. Though English class is the wildest. Your teacher was named Mr.Egbert. John Egbert. Karkat hated him. Today was especially interesting, though.

"So, Mr.Egbert, what are we doing today?" Terezi asked.

The teacher grinned and set down a box full of notebooks, then looked towards you, "Dave, by chance have you written a summer journal?"

You rose an eyebrow and took out a dark red notebook, hanging it to him, "Yeah."

Mr.Egbert gladly took it and placed it in the box, then pulling out a teal notebook. Terezi sniffled before her pure red eyes widened behind her glasses.

"No, it's too early for this. You can't be serious."

He grinned again, "Terezi, when am I not serious about reading these journals?"

You could here the whole classroom gasp while you stayed silent. Mr.Egbert said that all names mentioned will be changed into different names. Terezi rushed to her seat and hid in her red and blue sweater as Egbert opened up her journal to the first page.

". . . . Mom has been acting differently since the incident. I think she misses dad. Ever since, though, I've learned to use my other senses to make up for my lack of sight. I just hope mom will be okay . . ."

You tried to hold back a "whoa" that was trying to escape your throat. You would have never guessed someone like Terezi, could be this emotional. You aren't sure what happened, but it must have been bad. Mr.Egbert explained that the passage showed how much we truly worried about your surrounding, unlike we say we do. I wanted to punch him in the face for the first time since I moved here. He set the book down and picked up a pink one in which you don't remember what he read or whose it was. After that, he pulled out a gray notebook, and you saw Karkat flinch. Karkat sits in the seat in front of you and, you'll be honest, you are catching a little love-sickness from him. You want to know more about him. And maybe you will. Sooner or later.

". . . I can't stand this place. H . . . Hannie," he had a hard time coming up with a name, " . . . Won't leave me alone. Kanin is too scared to tell anyone what's going on. I'm such a failure. I can't even keep Jayzee away from those nasty drugs. Netakan is on to my case. I'm afraid Terezin is going to find out and she'll never forgive me."

The only name familiar to you was Terezin. It was obviously Terezi. Everyone was shocked and there were various whispers about whose journal that was. Only you know. Mr.Egbert couldn't say anything about the passage. Class soon ended after and you saw the teacher pull Karkat over for a talk. You were worried about his home life. So you spoke to Terezi about it.  
"Hey, Rezi, have you . . . uh . . . deciphered any names out of Egbert's mixing of letters?"  
She grins, "Of course I have, Dave, would you like to know them?"  
You nod eagerly.  
"I'll tell you if you take me out for coffee after school."  
"Fine."

After school both of you went out for coffee and Terezi spills all the details.  
"Kannin obviously translates to Kankri, if you know Karkat well enough you'll know that. He has an older brother named Kankri who often stays to himself. The only time I've seen the bitch is when Karkat and I were kids and he took us to the park. God he likes to talk. Jayzee is Gamzee without a doubt. He's suspended at the moment for bringing a weapon to school along with some drugs. He injured Nepeta, Tavros, and Equius with it. The only reason he got away without being expelled was because one, Karkat stopped him, and two, he has major mental issues. Interesting, huh? I almost let him get to me and I about beat him up."  
"Terezi, there's no one way a blind girl with trauma could defend herself against a murderous fiend like . . . Uh . . . Gamzee, right?"  
"Yeah, that's right. Getting on with it, Netakan easily translates to Nepeta. Nepeta is a close friend of Karkat, though you probably didn't know she's on some pretty bad shit, right? She's been a biker and part of a biking gang since she was sixteen. She's pretty close to being the leader of it, Meenah's left hand woman. There's many rumors about her. One of them being that she has a smoking addiction, which isn't even a lie at all, another one that she has shot a man from a mile away. No one knows whether the second one is true or not. Except, maybe Karkat. But hell if you'll get anything out of him except screaming about how that's invading Nepeta's privacy. I'm thinking Hannie translates to Hannah. Hannah . . . I'm not sure who Hannah is to Karkat. All I know is that she's often around Karkat's house, maybe even living there."  
"She's probably his mom."  
"No way. Both of Karkat's parents are missing from the picture and have been for years. Trust me, I've known Vantas since I was 5. Never once has he mentioned his mother or father. I'm pretty sure they're dead."  
"That's depressing."  
"So is Karkat's past. Anyway, from what we got from the passage, Karkat is having something happen to him at home and is scared. He doesn't know who to tell or depend on. I'm worried."  
"As am I . . ." you pause for a second, "Hey, TZ?"  
"Hm?" She responds while taking a sip from her coffee.  
"What was your passage about?"  
She sets the coffee down and begins to speak again, "It has to do with my trauma. When I was about 14, I went on a road trip with a older sister, Latula, who was 18, and my dad. My mom had to work, so it was just us. We got hit by a drunk driver into a tree. The air bags instantly killed Latula, my dad died from blood loss. The wind shield shattered and many pieces of glass had flew into my eyes, slowly blinding me. We were in the middle of no where, with no help coming. I eventually passed out and when I woke up, there was nothing but black. Ever since, my mom has been depressed. I'm worried for her as I am everyone."

"Oh . . . Sorry for bringing it up."  
"No, it's fine."

After hearing that, you decided to talk to Karkat tomorrow during Strings. You sat down next to him and tried to make small talk/  
"Hey Karkat."  
"What do you want, Strider?"  
"Just wanna talk."  
You thought for a second of a topic Karkat would be interested in, "So, why do you play viola?"  
He looked down at the instrument in his hands then back up to you, "It reminds me of someone whose chance of living I ruined . . ."  
"Who?"  
". . . My mom. She died giving birth to me. Because of that, I always thought I needed to replace her. She used to play viola, so I started playing and I . . . Grew to love it."  
Your eyes widened a bit as you bit your lip, hold back an "awe." You'll be honest, that was one of the cutest things you've ever heard.  
"Why did you start playing cello?"  
You thought for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure, though I'm pretty sure it had something to do with my sister, who plans to be a music teacher or psychologist and tried to teach me to play something. It was either that or psycho analyze me. After deciding I'd rather learn an instrument, I continued playing."  
Once class started, you hear Karkat say, "Hey, can we hang out after school?"

Dirk stopped the car in front of a hotel.  
"Alright guys, smallest amount of stuff you can live with for one day, only."  
All you really needed was your headphones, phone, and charger. You saw Jake take some new clothes and Dirk bring in his laptop. Once you all got into the room, you noticed Jake and Dirk cuddling together and flipping through pictures on Dirk's computer, giggling every now and then.  
You sat down next to then and asked, "What's up?"  
Jake looked up, "We're looking through some old pictures of Dirk's. Care to join us?"  
You nod you r head as Dirk starts going through them again. The first picture you saw was of 5-year-old you and Rose drawing together. After that was 10-year-old Rose in her emo phase right after she had dip-dyed her snow white hair blue. She looked prettier than you remember. Next was a picture of you, Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat all together at Rose's wedding. You and Karkat weren't married back then. The butterflies in your stomach began to flutter again when you saw the bright smile on Karkat's face. Then a picture of Dirk walking Rose down the aisle showed up, you noticed a bit a pride in Dirk's orange eyes. It felt nice to see his eyes without shades over them ever once in awhile. After that, there was a picture of you and Rose, dancing together. It made you smile at the memory. The last picture you saw, completely shattered your heart, It was of you and Karkat, kissing. You eyes began to water, but you ignore them. You went to bed that night thinking of how you could've helped Karkat. Maybe if you helped, you could have him in your arms right now.

The next morning you woke up in the back of Dirk's car.  
"Morning, bro," you hear Dirk say.  
"Nice to see you awake, Davey!" Jake said.  
The way Jake said it made you sick to your stomach. It reminded you of Roxy. You miss your mom. A lot. So you take out your cell phone and go to her contact, clicking on her number and then placing the phone up to your ear.  
"Hello? This is a, hopefully sober, Roxy Lalonde."  
"Hey, mom. It's Dave."  
"Davey! It's good to hear from you! How have you been holding up?"  
"Eh, okay. You?"  
"Good! My drinking habits have been calming down and I've got a rally in North Carolina next week!"  
"I'm guessing it's because of the law they're trying to pass."  
"Yeah, but trust me, that law won't past is Roxy Lalonde is coming down to stop it."  
"Heh, true. I wish you luck."  
"I won't need it, but thanks anyway."  
"I'm about to loose cell service, so, bye! I love you, mom!"  
"Love you too, Davey!"  
And with that, the call ended.  
"Yo, little bro, wanna finish the story?"  
"Yeah, sure man."  
You sigh and continue the story.

After school you and Karkat went out and talked at the park. Just being next to him made the butterflies in your stomach flutter. But seeing him up close also made you realize all the scars and bruises he had around his face and neck. There was one dark red bruise around his left eye. It was oh-so obviously fresh.  
"Hey, Karkat, what's this?" You lightly poke the wound, he winces.  
"Please don't do that, it hurts a lot. As for what happened I . . . I uh . . . Ran into a pole! Yeah, that's right."  
You give a sympathetic look, "Don't lie."  
"Fine . . . My step mom . . . She um . . . Hurts me . . . A lot . . . It's child abuse and I know it, I'm just afraid of what will happen if I tell someone . . ."  
You were shocked. You had no idea what to say. Before you could think of anything, he started crying and twitching. You could tell that crying hurt him a lot, how do you calm down a crying Karkat, is the question? You've barely ever even talk to him and he just outright says he's being abused to you?  
"I-it's not that bad once you've heard everything else that h-happens to me . . . I-I'm also a victim of sexual assault and gender dysphoria . . . I've done a lot of h-hiding in my life . . ."  
You didn't know what else to do but hug him. He's sniffling and sobbing, light red tears staining your white sweater.  
"Karkat . . . I would have never suspected . . . A thing . . ."  
Knowing this, you have the sudden urge to protect him at all costs. Your kitten is afraid of his own step mom. That's horrible. So you offered something you never thought you would.  
"Karkat . . . If you want, you're welcome to stay at my place whenever you want to avoid whatever is happening to you."  
His eyes lit up as he looked up at you, wiping away some of the tears, "R-really?"  
You nod, "Really."  
Karkat smiles slightly and hugs you tightly from joy. Maybe you do have a chance with him after all.

The car stopped in front of a gas station and Jake asked you to go inside to get some lunch. Once you walked inside, you noticed a familiar snow-white haired girl. She had purple headphones on, and knowing her, she was probably listening to classical music. You tapped her on the shoulder as she looked at you with her blaring bright purple eyes and let her headphones rest around her neck. You smile a little, that's the headset you got her for her birthday last year. There's no doubt that this is Rose Maryam. She used to be Rose Strider, then she took Roxy's last name as Rose Lalonde, then she married Kanaya and became Rose Maryam. You used to joke that she was trans-heritage.

"David? David Elizabeth Strider?" Rose asked in a soft voice she most definitely got from the Lalonde side of the family.

"Rose Casey Maryam?" You replied within her same tone, as if to mock her.

"That would be me," Rose responded with a smile.

You return her kindness with a smirk, "Hey, sis."

"It's been awhile since we have seen each other, am I correct?"  

"Yes, very correct."

You hugged her tightly and continued to speak for a bit, then heading outside to see Dirk and Jake. Rose is one of the only people who is actually related to you by blood. You have no idea where your parents are, they're out of the picture completely and probably dead. Dirk and Roxy were your guardians for the longest time, until they broke up and . . . yeah. You depended on Rose most of your life, seeing that she was your twin sister who seemed to have life figured out. Jake was overjoyed to get a random encounter with his sister in law he had yet to meet. He said she was very pretty and elegant, this made Rose giggle her sinister laugh. You know that Dirk won't show it, but he's happy too. Rose suggested everyone to go over to her house and have lunch with her and Kanaya. They gladly accepted. You were very excited to see Rose and Kanaya again. Last time you saw them , Rose and Kanaya were definitely not well. After Karkat's supposed "death" was announced, Kanaya fell into a great depression. The two of them were running out of money, and Rose turned to alcohol to solve her problems. You came down to try and help them out. Kanaya tried her best to sew away the pain, disregarding sleep entirely. One time, she fell asleep while sew, giving herself stitches in the cheek. You had to take her to the hospital after that. When she got home from the hospital, you demanded Rose pull herself together and help Kanaya out. You suppose Rose took your outburst seriously because afterwards Kanaya started going to therapy and Rose dropped going to the bar. You locked Kanaya's sewing machine away until a few months later when everything had gone more towards the light. Besides that, you always liked Kanaya. She was friends with Karkat and therefore, friends with you.  


End file.
